Hillary Clinton is against the Keystone XL pipeline

During a campaign event in Iowa on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton definitively said she opposes the Keystone XL pipeline, which is supposed to carry oil from Canada's tar sands and has become an important symbolic issue for the environmental movement.

"I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is," she said, "a distraction from important work we have to do on climate change. And unfortunately from my perspective, one that interferes with our ability to move forward with all the other issues. Therefore, I oppose it."

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Hillary Clinton is against the Keystone XL pipeline

Environmental activists protest against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in front of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (SCIS) where former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to speak at Syracuse Universitys S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications presentation of the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting in Washington, DC, on March 23, 2015. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

WATERTOWN, SD- MAY 08: Shawnee Rae (age 8) was with a group of Native American activists from the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe who came to Watertown to line the Obama motorcade route to protest the Keystone XL pipeline project.
By visiting South Dakota, President Obama has now visited all 50 states as president. The town of Watertown was very energized and enthusiastic about his visit. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline hold signs during a demonstration across the street where U.S. President Barack Obama will attend an event in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. U.S. Secretary John Kerry said Jan. 31 that the State Department will get results of a Keystone XL review in the next few days and that at some point in the future, he will make a recommendation on whether to approve the border-crossing pipeline. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline hold signs during a demonstration across the street where U.S. President Barack Obama will attend an event in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. U.S. Secretary John Kerry said Jan. 31 that the State Department will get results of a Keystone XL review in the next few days and that at some point in the future, he will make a recommendation on whether to approve the border-crossing pipeline. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 29: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks about the Keystone XL pipeline during a news conference on January 29, 2015 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. The US Senate passed a cloture vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline and is scheduled for full vote later today. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Lakota spiritual leader Chief Arvol Looking Horse attends a demonstration against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2015. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 29: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks about the Keystone XL pipeline during a news conference on January 29, 2015 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. The US Senate passed a cloture vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline and is scheduled for full vote later today. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Senator Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, from left, Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and Senator Edward 'Ed' Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, hold a news conference on Keystone XL pipeline amendments at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015. Senate Democratic leaders will push hard for full Senate vote on an amendment to Keystone XL pipeline legislation that puts all senators on record on their views about whether carbon emissions spark climate change, said Schumer. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Demonstrators hold a rally against the Keystone XL pipeline outside of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. The Keystone XL pipeline has become a proxy for debates about global warming, jobs and energy security. Republicans who now control both houses of Congress have vowed to make approval of the pipeline one of their first pieces of legislation this year, a move the Obama administration opposes. Photographer: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A copy of S.1, a bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, is arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015. The U.S. Senate on Monday, Jan. 12, advanced legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline with a procedural vote that sets up what may become one of the most extensive discussions of energy policy in the chamber in years. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, center, speaks during a news conference with Senator John Hoeven, a Republican from North Dakota, left, and Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, after a cloture vote on the Keystone XL pipeline bill at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. U.S. Senate Republicans are poised to push through a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, achieving a long sought policy objective that probably will be thwarted by a veto from President Barack Obama. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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Senator Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley, her opponents in the Democratic presidential primary and longtime opponents of Keystone XL, quickly responded, "I am glad that Secretary Clinton finally has made a decision and I welcome her opposition to the pipeline," Sanders said. O'Malley's statement was a bit more combative: "Secretary Clinton has followed — not forged — public opinion ... On many of these issues, I staked out positions and got things done — even when they were politically unpopular."

Clinton has been notably silent on the issue for months, aggravating many environmental activists who were curious to know what she thought before endorsing a candidate. "I want to wait and see what [President Obama] and Secretary Kerry decide," she told a crowd in July. "If it is undecided when I become president, I will answer your question."

Last week, she told supporters in New Hampshire that she would announce her position on Keystone "soon."

"I have been waiting for the administration to make a decision," Clinton said. "I thought I owed them that. I worked in the administration. I started the process that is supposed to lead to a decision. I can't wait too much longer, and I am putting the White House on notice. I'm gonna tell you what I think soon because I can't wait. I thought they would have it decided way, you know, way by now, and they haven't."